Dance!
by killslay
Summary: One-shot. Set between 313 and 314-315. After the Dance of Dragons, Aang and Katara teach Zuko what it really means to dance. No pairings, just all around fun!


**Dance!**

_What do you get when you listen to "Safety Dance," "Canned Heat," and "Footloose" one too many times while thinking of AtlA? A one-shot involving everyone dancing for no apparent reason! Rufftoon's deviantart piece "Loosen Up" was also a great inspiration. I might continue this, I might not. I dunno. Just enjoy and if inspired please review, mmkay? _

Aang loved dancing. It was the most freeing uplifting way of expression that humans had ever created. So when Zuko was in a particularly bad mood after Sokka and Katara mocked the Dance of Dragons, Aang immediately suggested an actual dance to loosen everyone up.

"You can't be serious." Zuko snapped as Aang eagerly dragged him into the All Day Echo Chamber with everyone following curiously.

"C'mon, Zuko!" Aang pleaded, "This is the perfect way of celebrating everything's that happened. Everyone's been so stressed and this is the perfect way of making everything better!"

"But Aang," Katara protested gently, "We don't have any instruments, so there won't be any music."

Aang smirked slyly as he let go of Zuko and let everyone file into the large bell-shaped chamber.

"That's what you think."

"She's got a point, Aang." Sokka pointed out dryly as he leaned against the wall, "I mean, I don't exactly see a live band around-"

Aang sent off a blast of wind to the cone-headed pipes above Sokka's head. There was a burst of trumpets that echoed throughout the room. Sokka yelped at the sudden loud noise and banged his head against the hollow wall which sent off a beat that also echoed, entwining with the trumpets to create a burst of song that soon faded away.

"See?" Aang smiled smugly as he tapped his feet on the polished floor, "This whole room is an orchestra. All you need to do is create your own music and you've got a dance floor waiting for happy feet!"

"I see," Teo craned his neck to examine the various pipes and drums that lined the wall, "the vibrations caused by dancing is echoed back by the room's structure and augmented by the room's shape. The pipes also can be played by airbending, so you've got woodwinds and brass."

"Back a hundred years ago, this is where the Air Nomads had the best parties." Aang boasted, "Back then, I wasn't old enough to attend, but now it's ours to enjoy. So let's party!"

With that, he grabbed both Katara and Zuko's hands and led them in an impromptu group dance as the other members of the party glanced at each other briefly before joining in.

--

"Woo!" Toph raised her hands in a rock on sign as she pounded the floor with her calloused feet. Whoever created this room was a total genius! This was the perfect place to rock on as she subtly tapped the metal bars near the floor which connected to the bells above that echoed all around them. Twinkle toes was airbending the pipes as he danced around like a maniac, so the whole room rang with song. Snoozles had gotten over his shock and was having a blast banging away at the drums lining the walls as the Duke just jumped from hollow to hollow shouting with glee. Despite being stuck in that chair, Teo was having a great time twisting his chair and making up his own dance while trying to avoid running over anyone's toes. Even Haru and Sugar Queen were beginning to loosen up and had started to dance with the music. Only that tightass Zuko was still stiff and uncomfortable in the din, trying not to show it by swaying half-heartedly with the beat. This would not do. Toph made her way over to where Aang was jumping and twisting in midair to create new variations in his song on the pipes.

"Hey Twinkle toes!" Toph shouted over the music.

"What?" Aang shouted back, "Can't hear you!"

Toph smirked and earthbended part of the wall to shove him down to her level.

" Sparky over there doesn't look like he's getting into the beat if you know what I mean!" Toph jerked her head over the stiff firebender.

"Oh." Toph felt Aang's disappointment and then his eagerness mixed with a bit of mischief, "Well, let's see if we can't fix that."

She felt him jump over to Katara and pull her over to the side. He whispered something to her which Toph couldn't hear over the noise. She felt a little disappointed he hadn't included her in his scheme, but shrugged it off after Haru challenged her to a rock off. The poor girly man wouldn't know what hit him!

--

Zuko really hated this. It was bad enough the group couldn't respect him (though he understood why), but it was worse that he felt left out like this. He just wasn't made for dancing, that's all. He didn't know how, but that was besides the point. Even if he did know how, he probably wouldn't want to anyways since it looked kind of dumb. Those kids really had no sense of dignity!

"Hey Zuko, want to dance with me again?"

Zuko glared sullenly at the cheerful Avatar who bounced in front of him like a four-year-old.

"No thank you." He replied coldly, "I don't like dancing."

"But you were great before with the Dance of Dragons!" Aang protested.

"For the last time, that wasn't a dance!" Zuko growled.

"You know what I think?" Oh spirits no, not her! Zuko mentally groaned as he turned to face the vindictive waterbender who smirked at him with her hands placed squarely on her hips, "I think he just doesn't know how!"

"I do so." Zuko snapped, "This just isn't dancing."

Both of them stared at him with various degrees of confusion on their faces. Zuko sighed in exasperation and ran his hand through his hair before complaining,

"This is just…there's no structure, no form. It's just moving you body randomly to the music."

"Well, yeah." Aang replied with a shrug, "That's dancing."

"No it's not! Dancing requires organization and discipline-"

"You're making it sound like a parade ground." Katara frowned.

"Yeah, Zuko. Dancing's supposed to light and freeing, not confining and structured." Aang grabbed Zuko led him into the middle of the room with Katara following, a slight amused smile on her face.

"Look, I'll show you. Close your eyes and listen to the beat and then follow it. Like this." Aang began to sway in time to the music, swinging his arms gently as he tapped irregularly with his feet. Katara followed his lead and began moving gracefully in unison with Aang. Zuko just stood there like an idiot, feeling more embarrassed than ever. Aang sighed and glanced over at Katara. She just smiled and nodded. Moving as one, they grabbed each of Zuko's arms and pulled him into a circle.

"Just do what we do until you feel you've got the hang of it." Aang instructed.

Zuko glared at the boy before reluctantly following his lead. At first, it was confusing as he tried to keep up with the boy's wild erratic movements. Then, slowly, his body began to adapt to the weird feeling of pulsing along with the beat. His dance slowly began to evolve as he grew bolder in adding variation to the movements, letting his head fly back as a bold grin spread over his face. He couldn't think of a word for what he felt right now, surrendering his body to the wild music around him.

"That's it, you've got it!" Aang cheered, "Now let's see if you can do it with us."

With that, the Avatar swung at him as he grabbed Katara's hand. Zuko instinctively ducked and twisted to land in a crouch. Katara swung Aang to leap gracefully over him and pulled him up in one movement. Zuko blinked in confusion and then understood as Katara similarly kicked widely over Aang who similarly ducked and pulled Zuko to jump over his crouched figure to be caught by Katara. This was like sparring, only without the fight. It was another way of dancing. Funny, he'd never considered fighting to be much like dancing, but now it seemed obvious. Was this how the Avatar had thought of all their previous battles? No wonder he'd made it seem so easy!

They danced like this for a while, incorporating all their previous experience with martial arts and making up some moves right on the spot. Zuko had never felt so light, so…free. That's what he'd felt when he'd been dancing solo. It was amazing how confident he felt, even dancing with the Avatar and his overprotective friend. He suddenly had the irrational wish to never let this end, to always remain dancing until duties and responsibilities vanished like smoke. He knew he couldn't: both he and Avatar had a lot of work to do in the coming months before Sozin's comet came. But for now, this brief moment of peace and freedom…it was enough.


End file.
